More than 110 killed by the wrath of Katrina

Last updated at 14:41 31 August 2005

The waters continued to rise in New Orleans today as the death toll crept to over 110 and rescue workers struggled in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Conditions have sharply deteriorated since the deadly storm passed over the Gulf coast. Water and food supplies were running out in rescue camps, there was no power and looters ravaged desolated cities.

State officials drew comparisons to both Hiroshima and the Asian tsunami as they battled to come to terms with the chaos and devastation.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin could not hide his frustration with failed efforts to stem water pouring from two levees.

In a local television interview he blasted what he claimed was a lack of coordination in relief efforts, delaying the city's recovery.

"There is way too many fricking ... cooks in the kitchen," he said.

Governor Kathleen Blanco declared today a day of prayer. "The challenge is an engineering nightmare," she said.

"This is a tragedy of great proportions, greater than any we've seen in our lifetimes. We know many lives have been lost."

Rescue teams

Five Navy ships and eight Navy maritime rescue teams were sent in to bolster recovery operations and Swift boat rescue teams were mobilised.

The death toll was incalculable and certain to rise. New Orleans has not even begun tallying the dead. In Mississippi alone, officials confirmed it had risen to at least 110.

Ben Morris, Mayor of Slidell in Louisiana, said the town had no electricity or food and that it would be months before anyone could return.

"This city had nothing," he told CNN. "This is a nightmare. This storm was a worst case scenario.

"I am anticipating 15,000 homeless people in a very short space of time and I am one of them - I can't go back to my home."

In Biloxi, Mississippi, where 30 people were killed in one apartment block alone, houses were flattened and the death toll was expected to soar.

Hundreds of people were still stranded on rooftops, desperately waiting for rescue helicopters to pluck them from the carnage.

In Louisiana alone, some 3,000 people have been rescued by boat and air, many placed shivering into helicopter baskets.

Superdome

Conditions deteriorated at the New Orleans Superdome, where up to 10,000 people had sought refuge. Hundreds of survivors were also dropped there by rescue workers, many needing urgent medical treatment.

Water began to lap at the doorways, and at least three have died inside. Toilets and bins overflowed, there was no air conditioning and barely any light.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is considering putting refugees on cruise ships, in tent cities and mobile home parks.

It warned that structural damage to homes, diseases from animal carcasses and chemicals in the water made it unsafe for residents to return in the foreseeable future.

As oil prices soared, the White House said an unspecified amount of oil would be released from its reserves.

The move is designed to give refineries in the Gulf Coast area a temporary supply of crude oil to take the place of interrupted shipments from tankers or offshore oil platforms affected by the storm.